Not having to do with my cars in anyway though. Coming soon to Japanese movie screens(and shortly after, subbed DVD for us), is a new Wangan Midnight Movie, based on the popular manga series. With the anime series wrapped up, and now this Live Action Movie, Wangan Midnight has been getting a LOT of attention. I’ve attached the trailer below. Thanks to http://theclippingpoint.blogspot.com/ for the info! Trailer HERE!
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Extractor Hood, Hood, Mazdaspeed, Miata, NB
Thats right! After months of waiting for the prototype to turn into a mold, we have finally gotten our first hood out of the mold! Pictures are below!
Filed under: Blog News
So wordpress finally released a (beta) version of the Blackberry application. This means I no longer need to be at a computer to update the blog! While this may not seem huge, it does add a couple of things that you can look forward too.
First, you will see more postings, because even if I do not post up from my phone, I can now easily start writing the post and save it to drafts. Then there is the ability to upload photos from my phone, so I can post up pictures at the same time as my posts. Anyone who is questioning the quality of my phones camera, the mirror pictures were from my phone! Not to shabby, eh?
The final new advantage of this is bringing something called “Car Spotted” to the blog. For my friends on Facebook, you’ve had this for a while, but for those who aren’t, let me go over the basics. If I see what I think is a hot car driving around on the streets, I will take a snapshot of it with my phone. While I wont be posting up within 30 seconds of seeing cars like you get with Facebook, I do think doing a “weekly car spotted” section will be quite nice.
Well there you go, the new stuff to look forward too!
PS: The majority of this post was written on my Blackberry! So the software works if your reading this!
Filed under: DIY, Mazdaspeed Miata News, MiataRoadster | Tags: DIY, Mazdaspeed, Miata, Mirror, NB
As promised, here are a few pictures, as well as a photo of the vented window!
SquareCraft, APR/Slick Auto, Moss Motors. Three companies I can name off the top of my head that provide F1 style Mirrors for Miatas. A stubtle modification that can really improve the looks of one of the girliest sports cars around. Unfortunately this modification does not come cheap, as for the same price you can almost get a new set of tires! This presents a bit issue to those of us that do not have an unlimited budget but do want to make our cars stand out a bit.
My search for a solution actually started back when I had a stock bodied NA. After searching for cheap “retro” style mirrors on Ebay I noticed an awful lot of motorcycle and scooter mirrors that were VERY affordable. As in less than $20 affordable. “For that price I can afford to mess around,” I thought as I ordered them.
Upon receiving the “CF style” mirrors in the mail I promptly took them to the garage, side by side compared them to the stock mirrors and then forgot about them completely. Fast forward a few years, a few moves and cars later, and one day I am going though my tool chests lower drawers to discover my $20 impulse buy. Once again, I mock them up to the stock mirrors, this time on the Mazdaspeed. “Hmmmm,” I think to myself. “They seem to match the angle of the stock mirrors a LOT better than I remember.” Into my immediate “to do” pile they moved!
A week later I found myself up at the 2 Bills shop, taking measurements of where my stock braces mounted and working out some bugs on the prototype parts for the Mazdaspeed. Since we were on a roll of taking apart things, I used Mr MiataRoadster’s extra hands to help unplug and remove the passenger side power mirror. Now, I didn’t make up any fancy block plates like most of the home made mirror setups do, as I didn’t have access to the tools needed for such things. Instead I found out my Ebay mirrors had the same thread pitch as my standard mirror and was able to screw it right into the stock mirror mount! While this leaves a big hole in the doorskin(where the power mirrors wiring goes though) it makes the mirror installation a million times easier. For now I have a piece of duct tape covering the holes, but in the future I do plan on getting a small a small block off plate made out of plastic/metal. As soon as I take some photos I will upload them here, otherwise please stop by the 3 year anniversary KINOD meet to see them!
Saw this FD on Speedhunters.com and found further inspiration in it. Think this is a worthwhile goal?
I was browsing another Miata nut’s blog and he took some photos of what he wanted to turn his miata into. I saw them and knew that they were exactly where my car was already heading! Check out the link and pics below
Pic
Short term for the Mazdaspeed
And the link to the the post!
I’ve referenced the main car I drive and modify a couple times, but nowhere on the web is there an actual rundown of the car and what is done to it. Since it is my main car, and it serves as a testbed for most of my tinkering, I figured putting up a full post on it wouldn’t be such a bad idea. So here it is, the full rundown on my 2004 Mazdaspeed Miata.
She was purchased with the complete intention of becoming a testbed for NB product development. This means at any given time there is at least 1-2 prototype parts on her. It also means that because of these prototype parts, she isn’t being built for one race series(most of the cars I build are built to SCCA class rules). This means I get to have a bit more fun with her. As of now her mods sit as follows
Engine:
- AEM Ram Air Intake
- Enthusia 2.5″ Midpipe
- Greddy Profec-B Boost Controller
- BEGI Throttle Inlet Tube
- Koyo Radiator
Suspension:
- KW Varient 3s on the front
- Koni Yellows on the rear
- Stock Mazdaspeeed Front Sway bar
- No Rear Sway bar
- Carbing 4 point Lower Front Brace
- Boss Frog Frog Arms
Interior/Exterior:
- Racing Lifestyle Type 2 Flares
- Ducktail Fiberglass Trunk
- MiataRoadster Vented Triangle Window
- NRG Dish Wheel and Thin QR
- Unknown Brand Race Seat
Wheels/Drivetrain:
- XXR 962 17×9 with 245/35R17 Toyo R1R tires(track)
- Kosei K1 16×7.5 F and 16×8.5 R with Hankook RS2(street)
- Hawk HP+ Brake Pads
- MiataRoadster 6 Speed Shortshifter
Everytime I look at the list I am still amazed at how much has already been done. Then I look in the garage and realize how much more I have waiting. Here is the immediate waiting parts list.
Engine:
- BEGI Downpipe
- Megasquirt ECU
Suspension:
- KW Varient 3s for the Rear(need rebuild)
- 1.6L Miata Rear Sway bar
Interior/Exterior:
- Racing Lifestyle Vented Hood Hood
- TCSportline CF GT Wing
- Passenger Race Seat
- Sparco Race Harnesses
- 1993 Miata Dash
- Harddog Hardcore Double Diagonal Roll bar
Wheels/Drivetrain:
- Work VX-SS 17×8.5 F 17×10 Rear
Obviously there is a lot more planned for it, but this is just what is currently sitting in the garage!
Well thats the car for now. As soon as I do anything to it I will make sure to make a more updated post!
Filed under: Mazdaspeed Miata News, MiataRoadster, Product Review | Tags: Mazdaspeed, Miata, NB, Review
I installed one of MiataRoadster’s vented lexan triangle windows approx 2 weeks ago. With summer heat really starting to hit, I wanted to see if I could save myself from an AC bill with this. Ill try to do a full install post later, but for now you get my review. Here are the pros and cons I have noticed so far
PROS:
- Lighter. Not a ton, but maybe 1lb or so? If your a weight freak, you will like.
- Vents work!
- Race car look to them?
Cons:
- Scratch Easily
- Not quite as secure
- Not tinted?
OK, lets go over these in more depth. For weight freaks that are not limited by class rules when racing, they are indeed lighter. I didn’t put them on a scale(though I do have digital scale on my to buy list, so I can weigh one vs stock later) but just by holding the two you can feel a difference. Also, they work! As long as you are moving at more than a traffic jam pace, you will feel the cool air coming in, even on very hot days. The air coming though these was ALWAYS cooler than anything through the vents(short of the AC being used). My routine is while driving on the streets I have the vent open and windows down. Hit the freeway and windows go up, vent stays open. Vent feels as though you are on a 3(out of 4 on my car) with AC on. Since I installed the vent I’ve only turned on my AC ONCE! I was stuck in traffic and the center council was out of the car, so I couldn’t roll down the windows. Finally, for those into the old school look, the vents do give that “cafe race car” look. I love that look, and is constantly what I strive for(hence the style of our type 2 flares).
Now the cons. Lexan scratches easily. I have one semi big one from my install(my fault, not the products installation). Also, a vent that pops open, so you could open it from outside if you had a wire(I have smaller hands and I cant even reach though the hole, so no worries there). My last grip was just personal. My windows have a factory tinting. Lexan windows do not. They don’t match. I’m sure this is something that wouldn’t be doable from MiataRoadster and I wouldn’t expect it of them. Besides, my factory tinting is messed up(once again my fault) so it needs to be replaced regardless.
Conclusion. Definitely worth it! Just put aside an entire afternoon for installation so you can do it correctly.
San Diego National Tour 2009. My first national event in at least 2 years. I had forgotten how different they were from the local SCCA events. New competition, different cars, and a full weekend of racing with some of the best on the west coast. Not something you go into half heartedly, without a plan. Which is why I was there. I was the tire warmer. I was still not use to the GT2s power, and it was showing after the first day. My first run was my fastest. It was also fast enough to place me in first…for the first runs. By the end of the day I was a good 2 seconds off my dad/first place. 2nd place was .2 seconds behind him and 3rd was a second back. The rest of the field was another second back from there. Not my best performance by a long shot.
2nd day, 1st run. Solid run, but not spectacular timewise. Lined up with my performance from the day before. As I lined up for my second run I told myself I was going to run a 54.1(about 1.5 seconds faster than I had just run, but within .5 seconds of my dad). Went out, fell behind the cones in the begining, but caught up by the end of the first 3rd of the course. The rest felt GREAT! Even the full speed downhill breaking zone was done without a loss in time. Time 54.121. Scary…
3rd run brought out an ugly little flaw of the car we had yet to encounter yet. My 3rd run was the 5th run of running the car hard, and halfway up the hill, the car became rediculously loose. I had to do everything in my power to keep it going strait, and every corner exit had lots of opposite lock. Time was a 55.7. I told my dad about the suprising change and we adjusted to shocks to be a bit softer. He went out and from the grid the car looked even worse than it was for me. He ended up being stuck with his previous best for the day. After talking with a few other guys that had experience with the GT2 for autocross, we found out that the GT2s turbos end up heating the rear wheels after running continuously hard, which in turn heat the tires from the inside out(much like how they heat up when doing a track day). This is very different from how tires warm up in an autocross, where it is mainly a surface heat. It would not have been an issue if the front tires heated up in the same way, but because it was from the turbos, the front tires did not have that same heat source. Lesson learned, use a tire carcass probe to check tire temps, not your hand.
